Traditionally speaking, a successful portrait often demonstrates one of two things: the subject through the eyes of the artist (often revealing an inner truth) or a kind or complimentary representation (with the help of expertly crafted techniques, lighting, posing, and Photoshop). Aristotle said, “The aim of art is to present not the outward appearance of things, but their inner significance; for this, not the external manner and detail, constitutes true reality.” So a portrait does not necessarily capture subjects how they literally are, but how they seem to be—either to themselves or the artist. One only has to decide on the perspective they wish to represent.
As this is obviously a photography book, we could delve into only the history of ...
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